Hat.



F. E. ENGLISH.

HAT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19, 1914.

1,129,857, Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

WITNESSES: IN VEN TOR.

FERDINAND E..ENGL.I5H

9 All? BY C 'E W i TORNEH Z FERDINAND E. ENGLISH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

HAT.

Application field August 19, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FERDINAND E. Exo- LISH, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful 1mprovement in Hats, of which the following is a specification, reference being .had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates and useful improvement in like.

Due to the fact that both mens and W0- mens hats, as now generally manufactured, are formed or made with a. head-size or portion adapted and designed to fit but one certain size of head, the hat merchant or milliner is compelled, under the exigencies of business, to have at hand or in stock to accommodate his trade a more or less large quantity or number of hats all of the same prevailing design or style, but differing in head-size only. Such stocks, particularly in the case of womens and girls hats, are often expensive andrun into money and also require considerable floor or wall space for display or storage. Consequently, so far as I am aware, hats, and especially stifi' hats or the like, adapted and designed to interchangeably neatly fit, within certain limits, various sizes of heads have long been desired, in order that the merchant or milliner might equally well, with a much less stock at hand, take care of and accommodate his trade, thus resulting, advantages, in a reduced expenditure of money and a saving of display or storage space.

The object of my present invention is hence principally to provide a hat having a head-size or head-portion, originally stiff and of a certain fixed size, capable of interchangeably fitting heads of various sizes.

to a certain new hats and the With the above and other objects in View, I

my present invention resides in the provision in a hat having a still head-size or portion, that is to say, a headsize or portion adapted and formed and shaped to fit one certain or predetermined size of head, of a fixed yielding band for adjustably reducing the predetermined size of the head-opening to adapt the hat to intechangeably fit, within certain limits, heads of .rious sizes.

In the aces; ing drawings, Figure 1 is an inverted view of a hat embodying my Specification of Letters Patent.

particularly among other designed when originally Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Serial No. 857,536.

invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the same, the hat being shown in proper position to be worn; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the yielding or elastic member or band forming partof my new hat as when detached from, and prior to being fixed in, the head-size of the hat; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the hat as seen in Fig. 1

Referring to the said drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, 1 indicates a preferably so-called stifi' hat or the like, which may be of any ordinary or preferred form or design and material. This hat 1, as shown, comprises a brim 2, a crown 3, and a head-opening 4. Head-opening 4, or, as I will call it, head portion 4, which is usually, inwomens and girls hats, made of some stiff material, such, for instance, as wire or buckram, and is generally somewhat elliptical in outline in inverted plan view, is, in the trade, commonly known and designated, as head-size of the hat, being that part of the hat which is designed to fit the head. Brim 2, crown 8, and head-portion 4 are here shown as integrally forming hat 1, but it will be obvious and readily understood that said parts may be separate members fixed or secure together in any suitable manner to form the hat proper.

Fixed within head-portion 4 preferably at or closely adjacent its lower or outer edge, as seen in Fig. 2, or, as it might be said, at or adjacent the rim or mouth thereof, and extending preferably continuously therearound, is a yielding member or strip 5 preferably of elastic webbing or analogous material having any suitable width,

ielding memberor strip 5 being, by means of thread stitches or the like passed therethrough only at and along its outer side or marginal edge, fixed to and within the headportion 4 of hat 1, all as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and '4.

In sewing or otherwise securing yielding member or strip 5 in fixed position to and within head-portion 4, strip 5 is first longitudinallyor lengthwise stretched and then, while in stretched condition, sewed or otherwise fixed at and along its outer side or mar ginal edgeord -l, as before sta ted, to and he i rtion 4 of the outer or fixed marginal portion, is in relatively unstretched condition at and throughout its inner elastically free portion. And consequently also strip 5, in the finished hat, normally assumes a flatwise position at an angle inwardly relatively to the headportion 4 of the hat, or, as it might be described, is normally fiatwise disposed approximately horizontally within the area of the opening of the head-portion 4 of the hat, as clearly seen in Fig. l, strip 5 thereby yieldingly reducing the predetermined sizeinterior area-of head-portion 4 and adjustably adapting the same to fit heads of other sizes. On the hat being placed upon a head having a size smaller than, or even substantially the same as, the predetermined size of headportion 4 of the hat, but larger than the somewhat elliptical opening into the hat provided by strip 5 when in its said normal position strip 5 will yieldingly give inwardly or upwardly at its relati'ely unstretched inner portion to accommodate said head. At the same time strip 5 will yield ingly engage the head without unduly binding thereupon and serve not only as a soft elastic cushion, so to speak, for the hat upon the head, but also as a retaining or securing member therefor. The hat is thus yieldingly self-securing upon the head, and the use of pins or the like in the case of womens and girls hats, the use of which, as is well known, is most objectionable and in some sections of the country, as I am informed, is even prohibited, is entirely obviated.

From the foregoing, it will hence be seen that by my invention, through the novel use of simple and inexpensive means, I provide a so-called stiff hat or the like capable of interchangeably neatly fitting heads of various sizes within certain limits depending upon the predetermined size of the headportion of the hat and the width and elasticity of the yielding strip 5.

I am aware that minor changes in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my new hat may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hat or the like, a head-portion adapted to fit a predetermined size of head, and a flat strip of elastic webbing fixed at one side edge only to said head-portion for resiliently reducing the size of said headportion to yieldingly fit sizes of head smaller than said predetermined size, said strip extending lengthwise around within said headportion and disposed normally flatwise approximately horizontally within the opening thereof.

2. In a hat or the like, a head-portion adapted to fit a predetermined size of head, and a fiat strip of elastic webb ng fixed at one side edge only to said head-portion for resiliently reducing the size of said headportion to yieldingly fit sizes of head smaller than said predetermined size, said strip extending lengthwise around within said headportion partly in stretched condition and normally partly in relatively unstretched condition anddisposed flatwise approximately horizontally within the opening of said head-portion.

3. In a hat or the like, a head-portion adapted to fit a predetermined size of head, and a flat strip of elastic webbing fixed at one side edge only to said head-portion for resiliently reducing the size of said head-portion to vieldingly fit sizes of head smaller than said predetermined size, said strip extending continuously around within said head-portion in stretched condition at and throughout its fixed outer edge and no rmally in relatively unstretched condition at and throughout its elastically free inner edge and disposed flatwise approximately horizontally within the opening of said head-portion.

4. In a hat or the like. a head-portion, and a strip of elastic webbing of suitable width extending continuously around within said head-portion adjacent the rim thereof, said strip being permanently, while-in lengthwise stretched condition, fixed at and only one side edge to said head-portion and being disposed normally flatwise approximately horizontally within the opening thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name. to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FERDINAND E. ENGLISH.

Witnesses:

E. W. Moore, RUTH PETERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

